Fishing in the Bundaberg area is on the improve at last. Most of the rivers have stopped flowing and the fresh will eventually fade out. A few more big tides should see a lot more salt water push back up the rivers and the fish back on the chew. Unfortunately the wind has put a damper on the offshore fishing and it just won’t stop blowing! As a result, the local rivers and creeks have been the areas most anglers have been concentrating on. The upper reaches are still fresh but are improving, and the best fishing has been down around the mouths.

Some big bream have been caught along the rock walls with some bream making the one kilo mark in weight. Bream now also have new size and bag limits in place. The minimum size if 25cm and the bag limit is 30 for a combined bag of all species of bream. Other species such as flathead, cod, jack and grunter have been caught. Some of the deeper holes and rock bars have produced some great fish, including some nice salmon, jew, jack, fingermark, and some good sized barra. Using live baits such as prawns, poddy mullet and sprats are the go.

The coastal beaches are fishing really well at the moment as the recent fresh has pushed the whiting out onto the beaches and some good numbers have been caught. There is also some good sized dart mixed in there as well. The local dams are still a bit tough on the fishing and the fish, as most dams scored a well-needed top up. The bass are up in the shallows in the weeded areas looking for a fresh feed, so small poppers and spinner baits are the go. The barra are a bit tougher to work out with most being caught on the troll in the main basin of Lake Monduran using 15ft diving lures in bright colours.
Till next time, Tim Mulhall